Sooners Vie for Big 12 Title Saturday

NOTES AND NUMBERS FOR MEET 12

POSTSEASON TIMEOn Saturday, the No. 1 Oklahoma women’s gymnastics team will compete at the Big 12 Championship, scheduled for 4 p.m. CT inside Dr Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas. The meet, which will pit the Sooners against No. 7 Denver, No. 22 West Virginia and Iowa State, will air through FloGymnastics (subscription required).

MATCHUPS AT A GLANCE

Oklahoma

Denver

Iowa State

West Virginia

2017 Record

15-0-0

16-5-0

11-6-0

12-8-0

2017 Ranking

No. 1

No. 7

No. 28 (tied)

No. 22

2017 RQS

198.000

197.040

195.720

195.920

2017 Scoring Average

197.859

196.538

195.293

195.455

2017 Team High

198.350

197.150

196.600

196.300

SWEET SIXTHThis weekend, the Sooners will pursue an unprecedented sixth consecutive Big 12 Championship title. Last year, the Sooners became the first squad in Big 12 Conference history to win a fifth straight crown. Previously, both Nebraska (1997-99, 2001-03) and Oklahoma (2008-10, 2012-14) has posted streaks of three straight titles. OU holds 14 conference titles (five Big Eight, nine Big 12) in its program history and eight Big 12 titles under 11th-year head coach K.J. Kindler.

QUEENS OF THE HILLOklahoma ended the regular season where it began - as the No. 1 team in the country. After dropping to the second spot after the first weekend of competition, the Sooners quickly regained first place the following week and have remained there every week since. This is the sixth straight season the Sooners have finished within the top two of the regular season national rankings based on regional qualifying score. In 2017, the Sooners own a program-record 198.000 RQS and will have one final chance at the Big 12 Championship to boost that total and remain in the No. 1 spot.

UNDEFEATEDWith a win at No. 17 California on March 12, the Sooners finished the regular season with a perfect 15-0 overall record, their fifth undefeated regular season under K.J. Kindler (2008, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017). Dating back to the 2016 season, the Sooners have picked up 53 straight wins, including 40 consecutive victories on the road.

CONFERENCE ACCOLADESSeven Sooners secured a conference-high 14 spots on the All-Big 12 Gymnastics Team this week. Seniors Chayse Capps (BB, FX, AA) and McKenzie Wofford (UB), juniors Natalie Brown (BB) and AJ Jackson (VT, FX), sophomores Brenna Dowell (VT) and Nicole Lehrmann (UB) and freshman Maggie Nichols (VT, UB, BB, FX, AA) all earned awards. This season marks the 10th straight year that the Sooners have led the conference in All-Big 12 selections and is the eighth consecutive season that the Sooners have earned at least nine all-conference selections.

ROAD WARRIORSIn recent seasons, OU has proven itself to be as successful away from Norman as at home. The 2017 road slate has been no exception as the Sooners are averaging a nation-leading 197.904 away score for seven meets. At home, OU averaged a 197.781 in its four competitions. The Sooners’ top three scores have all come on the road, and OU has posted the highest road average in the nation in each of the last three seasons. Additionally, five of OU’s six counting scores for RQS have come in away meets.

PERFECTIONIn 2017, four Sooners have combined to record eight 10.0s, the most individual perfect marks in program history, surpassing four in 2015. OU is the nation’s only team this season to own 10.0 routines on all four events, marking the second time in school history that the Sooners have earned 10.0s on all four apparatuses in a single season (2015). Chayse Capps (BB), Nicole Lehrmann (UB), Maggie Nichols (VT, UB, BB [twice] and FX) and McKenzie Wofford (UB) have all achieved perfection this season.

TAKE ON THE TOPDenver and West Virginia represent the 12th and 13th OU opponents ranked in the top 25 at the time of competition, with seven of those sitting in the top 10. Overall, 11 of OU’s regular-season opponents entered the season ranked according to the NACGC/W Coaches Poll, including seven squads listed in the top 10 nationally. RoadtoNationals.com rated the schedule as the seventh-toughest in the nation to begin the season.

• AJ Jackson was named the Big 12 Event Specialist of the Week for the fifth time this season, while Maggie Nichols was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week for the seventh time. In 2017, the Sooners earned 24 total Big 12 awards (complete list of OU winners this season located on page four).

• Fourteen of OU’s scores this season are currently in the top 10 in program history, including three team totals, one vault score, three scores on both bars and beam and four floor scores.

• OU boasts 18 individual appearances in the top 25 of the national rankings, the most in the nation. The Sooners join LSU (14), Florida (10) and UCLA (10) as the only programs who can claim double-digit individual rankings.

• With 295 victories at Oklahoma, head coach K.J. Kindler is within striking distance of her 300th win with the Sooners. For her coaching career, Kindler has 353 total victories.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma will receive its regional assignment next Monday, March 20. NCAA Regional competition is set for Saturday, April 1, at six campus sites around the country (Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, Washington, West Virginia). The top two placing teams from each regional will advance to the 2017 NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Mo., on April 14 and 15.

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